A Sanctuary for Gifted Youth With Tortured Pasts
by tell that to my writer's block
Summary: Who is Phoenix? What is Blaise Zabini's connection to this elusive young girl? Who is her family? Why did she leave? Well, Hermione Granger would like to know.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Blaise looked up as an indigo hummingbird flew through his open window. It was a warm summer's day and the air was laced with the scent of the garden just outside his window. Herbal and floral smells mixing harmoniously with the fainter smells of the vegetable and fruit garden farther away. There were birds everywhere, but one bird in particular had caught his attention. This bird was a hummingbird, its feathers a strange colouration of indigo and gold. His watchful gaze held it knowingly, and his suspicions were proved when it darted through his open window.

She was carrying a peculiar package decked in brown paper and tied with a forest green ribbon. It had been shrunk so that she could carry it. He knew she would be weary. She had, after all, flown from a different continent. He wandered downstairs to collect something, as well as give her some time to rest. She only had a mere week before she would have to return home; and as much as they anticipated seeing each other, she desperately needed a long nap.

When Blaise returned upstairs an hour later, with a late breakfast for the both of them, the sight he was met with was humorous. She had returned to her human form, and was spread out, face down on his bed, her long, wild, almost-black curls going everywhere. Her hair was longer than he remembered, though she had been growing it out for years so that didn't surprise him. It was tied back with a golden ribbon. He didn't wake her, inferring that that would be suicide. Instead, he was content with a book for the time being. Eventually, he went back downstairs and put her breakfast in the fridge. He started to wonder where his mother had gone to.

He was sixteen and perfectly capable of taking care of himself, she was thirty-four, and not. She often wandered off on expeditions which were becoming more frequent as he got older. It was fine by him. They didn't quite get along in the first place, especially when she was sober. At least when she was under the influence she didn't expect anything of him.

On his way back up the stairs he tripped and smacked his face on the banister. This led to a bleeding nose. He ran straight for the bathroom and put his face in the sink. He wasn't used to his newfound height yet, and missed the graceful manner in which he preferred to hold himself dearly. It would return eventually when he got used to his new height. At least, he hoped it did. While he was cleaning up his face he spotted someone in the mirror. He jumped, as he had almost forgotten about the person asleep in his bed. She noticed his jump, her eyebrow raised, hand on her hip and her sliver eyes she broke the silence.

"Well it's nice to see you too, Beanpole."

Blaise jumped on her, laughing and crying tears of joy at seeing her again. They stayed wrapped in each other's embrace in the bathroom for a long time. When they at last broke apart there was an awkward silence.

"So…" she said awkwardly, kicking her combat-booted toe against the tile floor of the bathroom.

"There's food for you in the kitchen," he said. She dashed downstairs in a way that said that was exactly the right thing for Blaise to say in that situation. When he finally descended the staircase she was waiting impatiently in the kitchen. He told her to take her shoes off, put them upstairs and come back down. Only then he would feed her.

"You sound like my mother!" she had exclaimed accusingly.

"And how do you know what your mother would do in a situation like this, Phoenix? You're a runaway, you haven't seen your mother in years," in any normal circumstance, this would have been a soft spot for someone who had ran away. But not with Phoenix, especially not when it was Blaise that was commenting on it.

"This is true," Phoenix accepted.

She then did as he said, and after eating her breakfast they walked around the trails near the Zabini household.

When the sun started to set they went inside. They ate, washed up and both crawled into Blaise's king-sized bed. Nothing would happen between them. They were only childhood friends, best friends. Their relationship was entirely platonic. It's not exactly as if either of them were sexy bedtime dressers, either. Phoenix was wearing the largest t-shirt known to man and grey sweats. Her hair was tied up and there wasn't a speck of makeup to be seen on her face. Blaise was wearing penguin pyjama pants. The bed was merely a convenience for them. They fell asleep that night anticipating spending time together and not thinking about any issues that may arise. Why would they? They were perfectly safe from danger and perfectly concealed from everyone. Almost everyone, anyways.


	2. Chapter 2

When Phoenix wakes up the next morning her hair is wedged in between Blaise and his ivory pillow. She shoves him roughly off and sighs exasperatedly, rubbing her forehead and her eyes and squinting around. Where had she left her bag yesterday? She spotted a large black bag but that wasn't the one she wanted. She wanted the smaller one, her purple backpack, with her toiletries and contacts in it. She fumbled around looking for it for about ten minutes before giving up and flopping back onto the bed.

"Blaise?" she groaned. Blaise's response was something along the lines of 'hnng nn m eef'. Phoenix groaned again, this time unintelligibly though it was almost certainly cursing. Phoenix grinned malevolently as she thought of how to wake him up.

"BLAISE ZABINI! I AM AS BLIND AS A BAT AND CAN NOT FIND MY GLASSES SO YOU BETTER GET YOUR ASS UP OR I SWEAR I WILL BREAK YOUR RIBS LIKE THAT TIME IN THIRD YEAR!" Phoenix yelled, right in Blaise's ear. Blaise was totally calm. He called her bluf—and she jumped on him, then got up, and jumped on him again. She then rolled off of him and crawled uncomfortably close to him, and whispered in his ear.

"I'll stop when you sit up," she said. She then resumed jumping on him.

"Alright, alright!" Blaise conceded after several more seconds of Phoenix being annoying, "I'm up!" He ran his hand through his hair and sat up tall, looking around for her glasses. They were on her bedside table. He grabbed them and shoved them on her face. She smiled.

"My hero!" she stated dramatically, giving him a WADA-worthy attempt at a damsel-in-distress swoon as she got up to grab her toiletries bag. She ran to his bathroom, locking herself in and turning the water on. She sang an entire concert in the shower, swore an entire slang dictionary while putting her contacts in, and spoke to her hair while she brushed it. Blaise was having an extremely entertaining morning listening to all this when he heard the door slam. He got up abruptly and ran down the stairs. His mom wasn't due to be home for months, who could it be?

"Blaise?" called a lilting male falsetto from the entryway. _Draco, _Blaise thought, _of course it's Draco. _He turned into the entryway and greeted Draco.

"Can I stay here tonight?" he asked, "My parents are fighting again." Blaise would have said yes, except for Phoenix who would very much not like to see Draco. Especially not here, her sanctuary.

"Not tonight," Blaise said, trying to sound as casual as possible, "I don't understand why you don't just move out."

"I _can't! _I can barely leave the house for another couple months while I'm on probation. I will do anything it takes to not go back to Azkaban._"_ cried Draco exasperatedly. "You don't understand," he explained, tears rolling down his face. "I'm only eighteen! I should be out, partying, looking for a job and a house. If the war hadn't happened I would be looking for a suitable wife for God's sake! Please, just let me stay. I'll behave, I promise. Please Blaise, I can't stand listening to them argue."

"Blaise," Phoenix said waveringly, "Let him stay." Draco looked up in shock when he heard a female voice, as it was surprising and not at all the voice he was expecting. When he finally saw Phoenix, her long, gleaming black curls down to her waist and her expressive eyes, only one visible under her mess of hair he knew exactly who she was. He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it again. He rubbed at his jaw and she ran her fingers through her hair and they looked away simultaneously . They walked into the kitchen and, without once talking to each other, started breakfast. She made crepes, while he cut up fruit and laid out condiments.

People always used to say that they looked more alike than most siblings, let alone second cousins. They had the same ivory skin, though Phoenix had freckles, they had the same expressive silver eyes, the same high and regal cheekbones, the same grace when they moved and, many little quirks of were shared between them. The last two mainly came from being raised together. It was shocking to Blaise how they moved together. They were like dancers in everything they did, weaving in and out, spinning out of the way. When they finished they washed their hands and sat down across from each other, Phoenix with her eyebrow raised, Draco with his arms crossed.

"So, talk," Phoenix started.

"About what?" Draco asked awkwardly.

"Tell me everything, from start to finish, then I'll go." Draco explained everything about the last five years. There was crying, from both participants. Then it was Phoenix's turn.

"As you well know, I was accepted to a school for gifted children when I was thirteen. I left, but I was still subscribed to the Daily Prophet. I found out our parents had lied about my biological parents. I stayed the summer with a friend. The next year I became a teaching assistant, which meant I stayed the summer at the school. I was a teaching assistant every year after that as well. I made some money. I bought an apartment this year, got a better job at the library, sorting and tutoring. I've made some friends, I am happy. But you're not. I'm worried about you. You will always be my brother, no matter what Narcissa and Lucius do. They can't shelter you any longer."


	3. Author's Note

I know it looks like I'm really neglecting this story but I promise I'm working on chapter three right now and it will be uploaded tomorrow hopefully.


	4. Chapter Three

When Blaise finally heard silence he descended the steps and, of course, stubbed his toe on the way into the kitchen causing Draco and Phoenix to break their embrace. Both of them hugged Blaise and smiled at each other. They then all sat down and ate. They then decided to go help with the Hogwarts clean up. Phoenix disguised herself by changing her hair and eye colour. Draco grabbed his forms for community service. He'd get one of the teachers to sign them before he left. Blaise did nothing but get dressed. He was an innocent, one that hadn't been "missing" for five years as Phoenix had. He had no need for disguise or community service.

When they arrived at the school Phoenix drew in a sharp breath. She hadn't been there during the war. She didn't know how bad the war had actually destroyed the castle. Tears rolled down Draco's cheeks. He had taken part in the destruction of this beautiful building. It brought back painful memories. Phoenix, sensing this, put her arm around Draco and her head on his shoulder.

"It's alright. That's behind you," she whispered to Draco. He mumbled a reply which was probably supposed to be elegant and noble but sounded more like complaints muffled into Phoenix's currently brown, straight hair to Blaise. He rolled his eyes at the pair of them. How they had managed to spend five years without seeing or even speaking to each other puzzled him. They were so extremely close, even after all the years apart it was obvious that they were very comfortable together. They fell into step accidentally and finished each other's sentences like twins. He knew, as they did, that there would be gossip about Draco and Phoenix, who had decided her alias was Viviane Roux and she was from Beauxbatons. Strangely, Phoenix spoke perfect French which made this a lot easier. There would be gossip in Witch Weekly, definitely. Blaise could see it now, "Draco Malfoy Seen with Graduated Beauxbatons Student at Hogwarts Cleanup!" Blaise just hoped "Viviane" was home before it started blowing up.

They arrived at the sign in and got in the line. When they got to the front they got rather nervous due to the fact that Hermione was the person running the line. Draco pried Phoenix's arm off of him and offered her his arm instead. She took it and held herself with all the dignified pureblood air she could muster.

"Didn't expect to see you here, Malfoy," Hermione said condescendingly . "Blaise Zabini. And who are _you_?"

"Viviane Roux, I just _had_ to help when I heard of the damage to your poor school from Draco here."

"Okay," Hermione said slowly. She wrote all the names down and sent them to the Care of Magical Creatures grounds to clean up debris. George Weasley and Lee Jordan were there with them. They all walked around and cleaned up. When they were done they rebuilt the hut and paddock as well as constructing a new fence to keep the dark forest at bay. Phoenix and Draco were on break and taking a walk around the site when Lee Jordan almost Wacked Phoenix with a board. Draco slipped,

"Phoenix!" he yelled, before realizing he may have just shattered her illusion and blown her cover. "I-I-I mean Viviane," he stumbled. Phoenix, playing along very well walked up to him and smacked him.

"You bastard! Who is this Phoenix you speak of? Your girlfriend? I thought I was special!" at that, she crossed the boundary into the dark forest and apparated away. Now there was definitely going to be gossip.

When Draco and Blaise got home an hour later Phoenix was no longer disguised and was making them lunch. She had a book in her hand while she was making guacamole, tossing a salad and putting corn chips on the table. She put it out on the table while she asked them about the rest of their work. They were happy and full. Blaise told them about the lake they could hike to from there. So they did that. They hiked out to the lake and swam. They swam until the sun started setting then they hiked back. They were happier than they had been in a long time. Years for Draco, five to be exact.


End file.
